Thomas A. Bartlett
Analyst · Brett Feldman of Deutsche Bank
Yes, Brett, a couple of thoughts. First of all, on the depreciation. I mean, for tax purposes, our towers are depreciated over 15 years, and we've had them for -- and been building them up over the last several years, but have had them for several years. So what we would see over time is kind of a step decline, if you will, on the depreciation and the tax shield associated with those particular assets. So that's several years out. With regards to the leverage, I mean, we ended at 3.7x. Our targeted range is in the 3 to 5x, and so -- and what I and where Jim and kind of like to keep our balance sheet, where we think is kind of the sweet spot for us, is in kind of that 3.5 to 4x. And so we think that we're pretty much right where we would like to be from a targeted capital structure perspective. With regard to discussions with agencies, I mean, we -- as I said, we've been at that 3 -- we're still within that stated 3 to 5x. And I think to the extent that we went north of that 5x and didn't have a window to be able to bring your leverage down below the 5x, I think the agencies would look at that very, very carefully. And so from our standpoint, as I said, we think that we maximize the value of the firm in that 3.5 to 4x, and would we go higher than the 4x? Yes, sure we would, and we have. We did at the end of last year, and the good news is that the assets that we're buying will come along with cash flow, so that we can work our way back into it. And to the extent that there's a transforming type of the transaction, sure, we would be looking at that too, and be willing to go high into the 4s to the extent that it makes sense. But clearly with a visible path to be able to get down, back down to our 3.5 to 4x.